eorton-79395 I really liked this movie. As far as cheesy fantasy movies, it's actually very entertaining. The first half does a great job presenting a classic conflict of Merlin's magic versus the cold corporate world. The plot thickens well when a newspaper columnist pompously harasses Merlin about his legitimate claim of him being the fabled Merlin the Wizard. Merlin proceeds to give him a book of spells that the columnist unravels, begins using magic himself and ultimately turns himself into a baby, filling the subplot drama of his wife, who could not have child.However, this is when my tolerance of cheesy movies buckles, when the movie creates a second story line with a cursed cymbal monkey toy, that tortures its owners (and its audiences). The movie erases all of its character potential and replaces them with even more bland characters, a the while Merlin makes cameo appearances of just walking around and doesn't choose to focus on him. Overall, I like this movie enough to actually enjoy it for what it was, a simple story of magic, but the inconsistencies in the plot made it hard to stay in it. The book and the monkey stories both take forever to resolve and Merlin is barely able to carry the movie all the way through. Some positive though, the sets and costuming was delightfully fun to watch, and the cinematography isn't horrible either.

TheOneManBoxOffice Hey kids! I've got a question for you? What if, and stop me if it gets too ridiculous, what if Merlin, the magical mentor of King Arthur himself, were able to time travel to present day and open up a shop of many different trinkets for everyone to behold? Wouldn't that be amazing!? Well, if you've seen this movie, you know that the answer to that is a complete, resounding, no, and you'd be correct in that regard, because this is one of the lowest ranked movies ever on IMDb. I have officially reached the bottom of the barrel.Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders is a 1996 pitiful excuse of a made- for-TV or direct-to-video movie for kids that is basically an edited version of the director's 1984 horror film The Devil's Gift, which is only known for completely plagiarizing Stephen King's short story The Monkey. For me, the movie is what happens when you take two rejected episodes of HBO's Tales from the Crypt and combine them into one. Unfortunately the director, Kenneth J. Berton, managed to drag the late Ernest Borgnine down with him. In fact, Borgnine plays the grandfather of a young boy who tells both tales as part a bedtime story, claiming that he wrote the stories while he worked in television. The first half of the film focuses on an egocentric columnist who hassles Merlin and his wife in their newly built shop of trinkets and souvenirs. So Merlin decides to let him borrow his book of magic spells to convince him that he is the real Merlin. The other half of the film is about Merlin trying to find his magic cymbal-playing monkey that was stolen from his shop and sold to a family unaware that it kills whenever it crashes its cymbals and its eyes glow. Let's just say that both scenarios result in some rather dark shenanigans, even for what is supposed to be a kids movie.This is a great example of how not to make a children's movie, even if it's not theatrically released. Not only is the acting in this rather hammy and half-assed, even from Borgnine, who probably had no idea what was going through his mind as he did this, but I think it's a proved fact that editing a horror movie into a whimsical children's film is one of the dumbest ideas ever conceived. It makes as much sense as turning 1986's Child's Play into a live-action Raggedy Ann flick. However, there are three positives to this whole experience. One, this was the last movie Berton ever made, so you can thank your lucky stars you don't have to see anything else made by him, and two, it made for a great episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in its tenth and final season, and three, Mr. Borgnine was able to recover from starring in this tripe by voicing one of the most memorable characters in Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants a few years after this was made, and we can all agree that the rest of his filmography is quite legendary.The movie is a poor excuse of family entertainment, but as what MST3K has proved, it makes for great riffing material, so if you and your friends decide to have a night of making fun of awful movies (considering that you have alcohol and pretzels on standby), this is perfect fodder. But on its own, let's just say that I was more entertained watching patronizing children's videos that I saw back in my elementary school days.

Duzniak38 When you see a blonde woman threaten an old coot dressed up as Merlin, with Mace, you know you're in for a treat of a movie. Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders is one of the most muddled up, confused, poorly stitched together films you could ever have the misfortune to come across. It opens with a young boy watching TV. His grandfather then begins to tell him some stories about Merlin, the Great Magician, who has opened up a spell shop in the modern times. Selling potions, spell books, snakes, spiders, cauldrons and other wacky products, it's no surprise that an enraged reviewer decides to threaten Merlin by promising to give an awful review in the local paper about the shop. He then takes one of Merlin's spell books home and begins to dabble in the dark arts, only managing to turn his cat into a vicious beast. The cat then begins to violently attack it's owner, which results in the man setting the cat alight, and letting it die in a burst of flames. So far so good for a children's movie? No. So far so good for a horror film? No. Okay then... well, so far so good? No! The pain then continues when the man continues to practise spells, but only ends up turning himself a hundred years older, then turning himself back in time, to a young baby. And there, we have the end of the first strange story. Nothing very entertaining to get out of it. It's to harsh and bloody for young viewers, yet to unrealistic, unappealing and tame for any older viewer. The acting so far stinks like rotting fish, and the plot is a muddled as you can get. Then onto the second story, about a birthday present bought for a kid; a procession monkey doll, which claps cymbals and chatters it's teeth. However whenever it does this, something bad happens (starting with a goldfish, then the cat, then the near miss with the human) This episode is a fun premise, but is done slowly and painfully, with no real suspense or excitement to hold you down and reel you in. It's just to boring and slow and plain for anyone over ten years watching, and to creepy and a slight bit unsettling for very young, young children. So what audience category does this fit into? Who will enjoy it? Who is it aimed at? The answer is; no-one. And no-one should feel the need to torture themselves by trying to sit through this bland, sordid mess.

Bethany omg i so totally agree with un0gosse7fou this is one of the most amazing movies ever! mark hurtado was greatly cast as grandson. i also must agree with un0gosse7fou by saying that i do not know mark, do not attend his church and have never dated him. It is most amazing every time i see it. incredibly also is such great work by such a young actor(now almost seventeen). i particularly liked when it is shown with the robots on the bottom of the screen, making fun of the movie in the process. It was just genius. now the rest of the movie had its downs but we have to agree on the brilliance of young hurtado's work in this said film